


heat shimmer, hips quiver

by dizzyondreams



Series: from the earth [5]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Beach fic, Genderqueer Character, M/M, Other, Trans Male Character, Witch AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-06
Updated: 2015-04-06
Packaged: 2018-03-21 11:47:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3691110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dizzyondreams/pseuds/dizzyondreams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren had no idea where Jean was taking them. He’d just told them to meet him outside the forest, that it was a surprise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	heat shimmer, hips quiver

Jean parked his truck some distance away from the forest entrance, cracked the window as he left it idling to try and clear the stuffy hot air. It was the hottest day of the summer yet, and Jean had slathered himself with some SPF50 and loaded up his shitty beat up truck with a cooler full of food and beers, ready to hit the beach.

Eren had no idea where Jean was taking them. He’d just told them to meet him outside the forest, that it was a surprise. Eren hadn’t accepted it without a fight, but Jean kept his silence, and eventually they’d just waved their hand and muttered an irritated little, ‘whatever’, under their breath. 

Jean tugged on the baggy front of his tank top, blew his hair off his forehead, checked the rearview mirror for some sign of Eren’s wild head of hair and their lazy loping walk. The radio played some upbeat pop tune, the radio DJ announcing it to be a blistering 35 degrees with a kind of manic cheerfulness that made Jean feel tired. The heat made him sleepy, and even the faint breeze coming in through the window wasn’t doing a lot for him. He sighed and closed his eyes, leaned back in the seat and stretched his arms out with a groan as he cracked his knuckles satisfyingly.

“You’ll be arthritic by the time you’re thirty, if you keep that up.” A voice came from his side, and Jean jumped and cursed as he caught his head on the rearview mirror. Eren grinned through the window next to him, settled their forearms on it and leaned into the truck a little. “So, you ready to spill where you’re taking me?” They were wearing a big straw sunhat, their hair pulled back in a loose braid and their dark skin looked warm and sun kissed from spending so much time outside. Jean, despite his irritation at them managing to sneak up on him, gave them a kiss before pointing towards the passenger seat.

“It’s a surprise.” He said firmly, and Eren threw him an over exaggerated pout as they walked around the front of the car to get in. “And you have _gotta_ stop surprising me like that.” He murmured, putting the car into first and easing onto the gas as he pulled out into the road. “You’re gonna give a heart attack one of these days.”

Eren just grinned, and leant forward to fiddle with the radio.

\---------

The drive out of the city to the beach was a long one, but a pretty one. Before long, they left the city behind and drove out into the country, Eren grinning out of the window and commenting on everything they saw. Holding onto their hat as they leant out, hair whipping around their face and laughing into the wind.

“That’s how people get decapitated!” Jean cried, and Eren just flipped him off before slumping back into their seat. They looked windblown and pretty, hair wild and cheeks pink.

“Y’know,” They said, gripping hold of their seat as Jean went too fast over a pothole. “You’re an awful driver.”

“I’d like to see you do better.” Jean shot back, turning the radio up louder as a song he liked came on. Eren just leaned across the handbrake and planted a kiss on Jean’s cheek, nicked one of his smokes from the pack in the cupholder. “Light me one.” Jean said, voice drowned out by the music, and Eren smiled one of their sly little smiles and stuck one in Jean’s mouth, lit it with a snap of their fingers.

The road slipped by underneath them, fields and houses a blur as Jean pushed the speed limit as much as he dared. The truck tended to judder alarmingly if he went over sixty, and he always liked to keep on the truck’s good side. He glanced across at Eren, who staring out of the window at the countryside, cigarette burning down between their fingers, and felt a dizzying rush of affection. They seemed almost mirage-like, beautiful and composed in the sticky heat of the truck. The sort of heat where you could barely draw breath. Where the sun blazing through the windscreen made dark spots dance across your eyes, and the breeze barely meant a thing. Eren adjusted their sundress over their thighs, propped one bare foot up on the dash and grinned at Jean through a cloud of smoke. Jean felt his heart swell in the sticky heat of his chest.

They smelt the sea before they saw it, and when it came into view the smile Eren gave Jean was blinding. The sea air stirred Jean’s hair, sent Eren’s dress fluttering around their thighs. “You’re taking me to the beach?” They asked, and when Jean smiled in response they threw themself across the cab to kiss him.

“I”m driving!” Jean cried, but he was smiling as Eren held his face in their cupped hands and kissed him all over. “Get off,” He mumbled, grinning, “C’mon, I’m gonna crash.”

Eren flopped back in their seat with a rattle of jewelery, picked up their hat off the floor of the cab where it had fallen. “I haven’t seen the sea for years.” They told him, then propped their elbow on the window, rested their chin on their hand. “It’s such a good day for swimming.” They mused, tipping their head to look at Jean. “You gonna swim?”

Jean thought of the scars from his top surgery, shrugged. “Maybe.” He said, then, “Now shut up, I’ve gotta concentrate on finding the place I’m tryna get to.”

“You’ve got a little spot picked out for us?” Eren purred, draping themself over Jean’s left side, too-warm and languid. Jean shrugged them off, but couldn’t help the smile tugging his lips.

There was a cove not far from the main stretch of the beach; pretty secluded and almost always empty. A little crescent shaped slice of beach, tucked away from the crowds of tourists. Jean parked the truck and he and Eren hefted the cooler before beginning the long descent through the dunes to the sea. 

“This better be worth it.” Eren grumbled, their face red and running with sweat. Jean glared daggers at them.

“It’s so worth it. Besides, I’m lifting most of this.” He rolled his eyes when Eren grinned and pulled their hands away from the cooler to show how little weight they were taking. “Slacker.” Jean shot at them, semi-affectionately, and they winked over exaggeratedly before taking some of the weight.

Eventually the stumbled out into the cove, both sweating and breathing heavily. Eren let their end of the cooler drop before stretching their arms up towards the sky and making a breathlessly happy noise. 

“It’s beautiful.” They said wonderingly, letting their arms drop to their sides as they stared out towards the sea. Jean watched them, feeling a strange sort of warmth bloom in his chest at the expression on their face. A gentle breeze blew off the sea, ruffling their hair and making Eren’s saffron yellow dress ripple. It smelt fresh, salty, and Jean was suddenly itching to get out of his hot clothes, dive in and cool off.

“Wanna swim?” He asked, and Eren nodded slowly, eyes on the sea. It struck Jean that he’d never seen them outside of their forest, and they looked odd not surrounded by greenery. The ocean stretched before them, and they looked very small against it, bright in their summer dress; like a little bird. Jean tugged on their hand, and they came out of their daze with a slow smile. 

“Last one to the water is sweeping the entire cottage,” Eren murmured fiercely, a spark of competitiveness in their eyes. “And the wolf is _shedding_.” They whispered, getting up into Jean’s face before darting away towards the shoreline, tugging their dress over their head. Jean cursed, pulling his tank over his head with no thought to scars, then stripped his shorts off and chased Eren to the water’s edge.

Eren splashed into the water before him, Jean’s long legs no match for Eren’s head start and natural quickness. Too many years of smoking and inhaling the air of the city, he supposed, getting salt water in his mouth, his eyes, up his nose as he laughed. Eren caught hold of his wrist, hands water-slippery and so warm, tugging him into the water.

He resurfaced, shoving overgrown salt-wet hair out of his burning eyes, grinning through the blur at Eren, who was treading water peacefully a few feet away.

“I didn’t know you could swim!” Jean called out, licking his lips and tasting brine, swallowing it down. 

“I’m a person of many and varied talents.” Eren shot back, ducking beneath the waves and appearing a foot away. “There’s a lot of things you don’t know about me.” Their braid had come loose, and their hair floated out from their shoulders, long and dark. Jean drifted closer to them, keeping one foot on the sandy floor.

“Can you breathe underwater?” Jean asked, reaching out until his fingers brushed Eren’s side. They shivered, eyes very wide and green on Jean as he wrapped an arm around their waist and pulled them to his chest.

“Not yet.” They murmured, touching a hand to Jean’s chest. “I need to find some books on it.”

“Figures.” He said, and Eren rolled their eyes and tugged Jean’s face down to kiss him. They tasted like salt, and kissed him they were hungry for it, all teeth and hands knotted in his wet hair. Jean steadied them with a hand cupped to the bare curve of their waist, brought his other hand to the nape of their neck, tipped their head back a little; kissed them slow.

“You,” He murmured, pulling away a little and knocking their foreheads together, squeezing the nape of Eren’s neck. “Are a terrible kisser.”

“I’ve never had a complaint.” Eren protested, the water sloshing between their chests as they nipped at Jean’s lip and kissed him quick. The sun beat down on Jean’s shoulders, so hot he could almost feel himself burning. His hair was already drying, curling over his forehead and stiff with salt. 

“I’m not complaining.” He murmured, trailing his hand over Eren’s hip and down over their bare ass, where he stopped. “You’re not wearing a swimsuit.” He said blankly, and Eren gave him a surprised look.

“Why would I?” They asked, wiggling out of Jean’s grip and floating out of reach. “It’s nice to swim naked.”

“God.” Jean said, watching as Eren submerged themself up to their chin in the green water. “You have no sense of public decency.”

“There’s no one here.” Eren pointed out, rising out of the water a little. “Now, come here and kiss me.”

Later, drunk on sun-kissed skin and the taste of salt in their mouths, under their skin, he and Eren collapsed into each other on their towels. Sand stuck to damp skin, wet hair drying coarse and curled, the arch of Jean’s back when Eren’s hand found its way between his legs. Flushed skin and salty lips parted on a breathless moan, Jean’s hands locked in Eren’s mane of hair, the fabric of the towel. Eren pressed against his side, panting into Jean’s mouth as he jerked them off with the cool sea breeze washing over them. 

They ended up making a mess of the beach towels, and when Jean scolded them they just laughed, languid and beautiful with an arm thrown over their eyes.

“Don’t ruin it.” They murmured, curling into Jean’s side and passing a hand over his chest, over his scars. He flinched away a little, and Eren rested their hand on his stomach, kissed his shoulder. “Thanks for taking me here.” They added, sounding like they were just on the cusp of falling asleep, their words drawn out and lazy.

Jean settled his hand over Eren’s on his stomach, tracing little circles into the back of their hand, smoothing a fingertip over their rings. “I knew you’d like it.” He said, and Eren laughed into the sunburnt skin of his shoulder. 

They settled more comfortably onto Jean then, propping their head on his chest and hitching their knee over his thighs. Jean curled his arm around their shoulders, held them close, stroked their hair away from their face as their breath deepened and slowed.

Jean listened the waves and the gulls, and thought about how Eren was the best thing that had ever happened to him. He wondered how long he could have it good before he fucked it up, but pushed the thought away before it settled into his mind. Just let the white noise of the waves wash away anything that wasn’t the weight of Eren’s body curled against him.

**Author's Note:**

> written for the seventh erejean week prompt: ocean! not sure if this is even worth rating as mature but.. i'll be on the safe side and protect the children 
> 
> hope you enjoy! comments are always encouraging


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